


Always By Your Side

by SpencerRemyLvr



Category: Criminal Minds, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Brain Damage, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Major Character Injury, Permanent Injury, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-07-05
Packaged: 2018-02-07 15:24:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1904064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpencerRemyLvr/pseuds/SpencerRemyLvr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn’t often anymore that Remy thought about what used to be. He loved Spencer, both who he had been and who he was now. The ways he’d changed had stopped being separate from him and were now just a part of Spencer. They were just another part of who he was. But sometimes, Remy looked at him and Spencer would say or do something that would remind Remy. Those moments were getting few and far between but they still happened occasionally. He would see or hear something and it would remind him of who Spencer used to be, and of the moment that changed their lives completely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always By Your Side

Sun was shining in through the bedroom windows when Remy stepped out of the bathroom. He squinted at it and grumbled a little while he walked over towards his dresser, toweling himself dry as he went. By the time he was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, his eyes finally managed to adjust slightly to the light. Enough so that he found himself smiling. Absently he started to dry his hair, thinking to himself that today would be a good day to go and take a walk. He’d have to ask Spencer and see if he wanted to go. They often took walks together on nice days.

Speaking of Spencer, where was he? Still toweling his hair dry, Remy made his way out of the bedroom and down the hallway. There were no sounds coming from anywhere inside of the house. He peeked in the office. Nope, not in there either. Hm. It wasn’t until he was almost to the dining room that he finally heard him. He stopped to drape his towel over a kitchen chair, and then made his way over to the sliding glass doors. What he found had him smiling. Spencer was in their small backyard, still dressed in his plaid pajama pants, but he’d snagged one of Remy’s hoodies and apparently his boots as well. He was off to one side and was grinning down at the German shepherd that was dancing around in front of him. Spencer lifted his arm and threw the ball he held. Remy could see the man’s grin as he watched the dog race off after it.

The sight was enough to have Remy’s smile growing. He remembered when they first brought that dog home, two years ago. Spencer had been nervous about the idea of having a dog, claiming that he liked them, but that the ‘Reid effect’—something his team teased him about that apparently caused dogs to bark and children to cry—had prevented him from ever owning one. Remy had told him he was ridiculous and that animals and children just sensed how uncomfortable he was and reacted to it. Still, Spencer worried. His worry only lasted the first few minutes. The two bonded quickly and all worries had vanished out the window. Sasha had been a part of their lives ever since then.

Remy pulled his hairbrush from his pocket and started to brush his hair as he watched Spencer take the ball that Sasha dutifully brought back. He saw as Spencer got the ball halfway up and suddenly dropped it. Only a brief second of frustration crossed his face. Then the young genius bent and picked it up again, with his other hand this time. Remy watched it and felt a small pang in his heart. Spencer's hand must be bothering him today. Some days were better than others, some worse. Some days Spencer couldn’t grip anything at all with his left hand. Despite the years that had gone by and the surgeries he’d had, his hand would never fully heal from the damage that had been done.

It wasn’t often anymore that Remy thought about what used to be. He loved Spencer, both who he had been and who he was now. The ways he’d changed had stopped being separate from him and were now just a part of Spencer. They were just another part of who he was. But sometimes, Remy looked at him and Spencer would say or do something that would remind Remy. Those moments were getting few and far between but they still happened occasionally. He would see or hear something and it would remind him of who Spencer used to be, and of the moment that changed their lives completely.

Remy would never forget the day he got the phone call from Derek Morgan. Of the whole BAU team, Derek was the only one who knew who Remy was and what he was to Spencer. He was the only one that knew just how close the two were. Close enough that they were talking about marriage, actually. The two wanted to commit to one another and start a life together. They’d even talked about potentially leaving their jobs and starting over somewhere fresh. Somewhere they could be Remy and Spencer, not Gambit and SSA Dr. Reid.

The afternoon had seemed so normal. Remy had been curled up in the TV room with a few of the other house residents, watching a movie he didn’t really care about. Mostly he’d been there just because he was bored and Scotty had threatened to blast him into the wall if he didn’t stop annoying him for five damn minutes. When his cell phone rang, it had been a welcome distraction. He’d had no idea what would be on the other end of the line.

*Flashback*

_The ringing of Remy’s cell phone drew his attention away from the horrible moving that Bobby had put on. Remy reached into his pocket, muttering a heartfelt thanks for the distraction, and he quickly flipped his phone open and put it to his ear. “Bonjour.”_

_“Remy. It’s Morgan.”_

_Just those three words, yet they were enough to have Remy going from lazily bored to high alert. His whole body froze in place and a sick feeling started down low in his stomach. Something was wrong. Derek would only be calling him if something was wrong. That was the only reason. He didn’t even have Remy’s number. To have called him, he had to have gotten the number from Spencer's phone. Licking lips gone suddenly dry, Remy forced his mouth to move though he felt almost numb. “Is he okay?” That was the most important thing right now. Please, God, let him be okay!_

_The silence on the line was terrifying. After a too long pause, Derek’s voice came back, and the pain there sent Remy’s fear even higher. “He’s alive.” Derek said carefully. He paused again and there was some soft sound that Remy couldn’t quite place. “You need to get out here, Remy. It’s bad.”_

_Those words worked to unlock Remy’s body. In one fluid move he was up out of his chair and practically flying out of the room. He headed straight towards the garage, already digging his keys out of his pocket. “Where are y’?”_

_“St. Louis Memorial hospital.”_

_“I’m on m’ way. Y’ tell him dat, Derek. I’m on m’ way. He damn well better hold on.” Snapping his phone closed, Remy rushed into the garage and made straight for his bike. Logan was in there, working on his own bike, and Jubilee was sitting on the ground beside him, chattering away. The two looked up at his entrance. Logan immediately straightened up when he saw Remy’s face. His whole body tensed, ready for trouble. “What’s going on?”_

_“I’m going to St. Louis. Spencer's in de hospital an dey’re saying it’s bad.” Remy said shortly. He climbed onto his bike and reached up to pull his hair back. His hands were rock steady. All the panic and fear that he felt were shoved way down low. He would not panic right now. He couldn’t afford it. First, he had to get to Spencer. He had to be there. Anything else could be dealt with later. All that mattered right now was getting there._

_He didn’t wait to see what Logan or Jubilee said. Remy yanked on his helmet and kicked his bike to life. Within seconds, he was tearing out of the garage and down the drive, only one goal in mind. He had to get to Spencer._

*End Flashback*

From the mansion to St. Louis, it was around a fifteen hour drive if you hopped on I-70. Remy had made it in twelve. To this day, he still couldn’t clearly remember most of that drive. The only clear memory he had of it was the terror that had boiled just underneath the surface. That terror had fueled him on, pushing him to higher and higher speeds. He was damn lucky he made the trip alive and without getting pulled over. But none of that had seemed important. Nothing had been as important as getting to St. Louis.

When he’d arrived, he’d rushed straight inside, already dialing the number from his cell that Derek had called from. There would’ve been no point in asking the nurses for information; Remy knew they wouldn’t hand it out to anyone that wasn’t family and he didn’t want to waste the time trying to charm them. The call to Derek was much quicker. He was told to head right up to the fourth floor, room 305. That was all he needed. He’d raced up the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator. When he ran down the hall, someone near the waiting room tried to stop him, but he didn’t hear them. He just kept going until he found room 305.

Nothing could’ve prepared him for what he found when he finally reached Spencer's room.

*Flashback*

_The sight that met Remy’s eyes when he flung the door open was one that he knew would forever be burned into his mind. He stood frozen right inside the room, unable to do anything but stare at the battered figure lying in that hospital bed, hooked up to machines. Inside, his heart cried out in denial, a terrified scream that he somehow kept locked inside. This couldn’t be Spencer. Not_ his _Spencer. Oh, God, no. Please don’t let it be him! But, he knew it was. There was no denying it. Even through the bruises and the cuts, the stitches and the tubes and wires, even with the shaved off hair, he knew that body. Knew it more intimately than he knew his own._

_On shaking legs, Remy moved towards the bed. His eyes raced over Spencer, taking in every inch of him, cataloging every detail. Spencer's left leg was in a giant brace, supported by pillows. It was the same leg that he’d been shot in before. It was wrapped now in gauze and ace bandages and then covered in the huge brace. The other leg was hidden by the blanket. A hospital gown and the blanket covered his chest and shoulders. His right arm was casted from the base of his fingers to halfway up his forearm. His left hand was wrapped in gauze and in a brace that hid everything but the tips of his fingers. But none of those compared to the rest of him. There was bruising around Spencer's throat, so dark against his pale skin. Bruises marred his face, covering his left eye completely, down and over his cheekbone, and another one took up most of his jawline on the right side. His nose was bruised and swollen, like it had been broken. Small cuts were here and there over his face and forehead, like he’d been caught by exploding glass or something. Something sharp and small that left all these tears into his skin. One was long on his forehead, going into his eyebrow, and it had a couple stitches to it._

_Most devastating and terrifying of all the things that Remy could see was the injury on Spencer's scalp. His hair had been shaved away and there was a stitched up cut, at least six inches long, across his head. It was easily visible through the sensors they had hooked up around it._

_Remy made a choked sound. He stopped at Spencer's bedside, staring down at him. If it wasn’t for the beep of the monitor off to the side, Remy would’ve feared his partner was dead. He looked so small and frail lying there. Fragile. God, what had happened to him? Remy’s hand shook when he lifted it. He laid it gently on Spencer's chest, over his heart, needing to feel that steady beat to reassure him that his partner really was alive. That he was still in there. When he felt the beat thrum against his hand, it broke some of his control. “Oh, Spencer.” The aching words slipped out. Remy’s body seemed to simply melt. He slid down into the chair there at the bedside, his hand never leaving Spencer's chest. Tears built in his eyes and started to slide silently down his cheeks_.

_Behind him, he heard the door to the room open and someone was coming inside. He didn’t even bother to wipe his cheeks before looking up. He lifted his head and turned it. Derek Morgan was slowly walking into the room and Remy could see the pain on the man’s face. It was written right out there for everyone to see. Remy knew that Spencer and Derek were like brothers to each other. The bigger man tried to look out for Spencer and he always took it personally if the young genius was hurt on his watch. It was obvious that this was killing him._

_Remy wanted to offer words of comfort. He couldn’t find any at the moment, though. There was only one thing he could bring himself to ask. “What happened?”_

_“We’re not sure.” Derek said hoarsely. He stopped by the foot of the bed, his eyes automatically traveling over Spencer. The ache there grew. “Yesterday morning we woke up at the hotel and Reid wasn’t there. His stuff was in his room but he was just gone .We didn’t find any signs of a struggle, nothing to suggest he’d been taken. Garcia even checked the hotel security footage. All it showed was Spencer walking out of the hotel and getting into a cab. From there, we had no idea where he went. His phone was left with his stuff, so we couldn’t call him. He just vanished.”_

_Part of Remy wanted to demand to know why they hadn’t called him. He wanted to scream at the man for not contacting him sooner. Yet he was frozen, unable to do anything but watch and listen as Derek continued to talk._

_“It was later that afternoon before we heard anything. The Unsub had a DVD delivered to the police station. He, he had Reid tied to a chair and he…he was hurting him. Just for a few minutes. Enough to let us know that he had him.”_

_Oh, God. Bile rose up in Remy’s throat. He focused on the beat of the heart under his hand._

_Derek wasn’t done yet. “We busted our asses and we finally found a lead. A piece of property out on the edge of town. We went out there about eleven last night. He was ready for us, though. He forced Reid into his car and tried to take off. We chased after him, but he was driving erratically. We don’t know what happened next. One minute, they were going straight down the road. The next, the car jerked to the side. It…” Derek paused and swallowed loudly. His voice thickened a little. “It hit the guardrail and flipped. The Unsub died in there, but Reid was thrown through the windshield. We found him a few feet away. The ambulance brought him in and they took him straight in to surgery. That’s when I called you. He’s been out of surgery for a few hours now.”_

_The room fell quiet as Remy processed Derek’s words. He looked back up at Spencer's face and wanted more than anything else for those beautiful eyes to open and look at him. He needed to hear Spencer's voice telling him that he was fine, even if it was just his usual lie._

_“Remy,” Derek called his name softly, drawing his eyes back over once more. “The doctor…he needs to speak with you.”_

_What? The doctor? “Why?”_

_“You have Reid’s medical power of attorney. They need to discuss further treatment with you.”_

_He had what? Since when? Stunned, Remy just stared, not quite able to take it in. This was all just too much to take in. Too much at once. He didn’t want to be responsible for Spencer's medical decisions. He wanted Spencer awake and capable of making those decisions on his own! His eyes drifted back to Spencer's battered face. As he stared, he found his emotions slowly evening out. He couldn’t afford to panic right now. Spencer had always trusted Remy to take care of him before. Was it so different now? The decisions were bigger, yes, as was the problem, yet the concept was the same. Spencer knew that he could trust Remy to do not only what was right, but what Spencer himself would want. Otherwise, he never would’ve given Remy his medical power of attorney. Could Remy honestly betray that trust by sitting here and panicking while there were important things to be taken care of?_

_No. Remy drew himself up a little in his seat and reached up to wipe away his tears. He wouldn’t break apart right now, not while Spencer needed him. He’d be strong, for him. Later, when things were done,_ then _he could break down a little and let the tears come. Then he could indulge in his fears. But right now Spencer needed him to be the strong one, so that’s what he would be._

_Remy lifted dry eyes and sought out Derek’s with his own. Even through the sunglasses, Remy’s gaze was intense. “Okay. Y’ bring de doctor and I’ll speak wi’ him.”_

*End Flashback*

The sound of Spencer's laughter brought Remy back to the present moment. He looked down into the yard and chuckled when he saw that Spencer was now sitting down in the grass with Sasha licking at his face. His joy in the moment was open and obvious to anyone who looked at him. He wore a bright, wide smile and his laughter echoed in the air. It warmed Remy’s heart to see it. He remembered how afraid he’d been that he might never get to see that smile ever again.

The injury list had been a pretty serious one. His left leg had broken and a part of his kneecap had chipped off and had to be surgically removed to prevent it from floating around and locking his knee one day. His right wrist was broken as well, plus two of his ribs. One of those ribs had punctured a lung, causing it to collapse. He’d also suffered from a fractured clavicle. There’d been pretty extensive bruising over most of his body, evidence of a severe beating, and multiple lacerations that were randomly placed here and there. His left hand was one of the more severe injuries. In the end, it took three surgeries to repair it as much as they had, and even then Spencer never fully regained the use of it. The doctor said it looked like someone smashed it with a blunt object, breaking the bones and causing serious damage inside. Most days, Spencer wore a special arthritic glove over his hand, helping to keep the ache down a little. While his hand had healed as well as it had, he did suffer some pain in it. The doctors said he probably always would.

His worst injury had been, of course, to his head. They’d had to perform surgery immediately upon his arrival at the hospital to relieve the swelling and drain the excess fluid. It was heartbreaking, but the doctor hadn’t been surprised when Spencer slipped into a coma after his surgery. Remy had been terrified that his partner would never wake again. He became a fixture at his bedside, snarling at anyone who thought to force him into leaving. Though he’d known it was impractical, a part of him had been afraid that, if he left, Spencer might fade away on him. When he was right there with Spencer, he could hold on to him, touch him, talk to him.

Spencer had stayed in a coma for two weeks. Fourteen long, long days. During those two weeks, Remy never went far. Only occasionally could they convince him to leave. Even then, it took the combined effort of the BAU team and the medical staff to make him go. He stayed at Spencer's side every chance he could get. When they made him leave, he went to his hotel room and showered and slept, making sure to set an alarm that would wake him up with enough time to get to the hospital right on the time they promised to let him back in. When he could get away with it, he simply slept there in Spencer's room.

People came and went every day. The BAU team stayed for a few days before work required that they fly back home. Derek got time off and he stayed for a full week before he had to go back as well. Then it was just Remy there. He made sure the team had a way to contact him and he spoke with them every evening, updating them all on Spencer's condition, and then he’d call Ororo or Logan and update them as well. Remy truly got to know Spencer's team during that time. Especially Derek and Penelope. Those two not only checked on Spencer, but made a point to check on Remy as well. They helped Remy keep his spirits up and helped him stay sane for those two weeks of waiting.

When Spencer finally woke up, it had been a joyous moment for Remy. But if he’d thought things would immediately get better, he was quickly proven wrong.

*Flashback*

_Remy smiled at the nurse at the desk when he came in off the elevator. Over the past two weeks, he’d gotten to know the nursing staff on this floor. They all knew him by sight and they treated he and Spencer very well. The nurse today was Judy, and she greeted him with a broad smile that instantly had his attention. Hope sprang to life inside of him. That smile had to mean good news. It just had to. He held his breath and stood there, staring at her, praying for good news._

_His prayers were answered. Judy said the two words that Remy had been dying to hear. “He’s awake.”_

_If it hadn’t been for her quick reflexes, Remy would’ve raced down the hallway. But Judy was prepared for that and she grabbed his arm as he went past, stopping him in his tracks. “Hold on, Remy. Wait a second before you go in there.” She pulled on his arm, bringing him back in front of her. The smile was still there, but her eyes were serious. “You need to understand some things before you go in there. I know you’ve been getting a crash course in TBI and what to expect. You need to remember those things now. Dr. Reid’s awake, but you’ve got to keep in mind that he’s had a serious injury to his brain. Just because he’s awake doesn’t mean that he’s going to immediately act like the person you knew.”_

_“I know dat. I read in dem books and I talked wi’ de doctor. He said Spencer might not be himself fo’ a while.”_

_“It’s one thing to know it. It’s another thing to actually see it in action.” Judy warned him. Her face and voice softened a little. “I want you to be prepared, Remy. Spencer is very confused and disoriented. He seems to realize where he is, but not why. But he seems to understand us just fine and that’s a positive thing.”_

_All of this was important. It was things that Remy needed to know. Yet he couldn’t take it in yet. He needed to be down there with Spencer. He needed to see him! Judy seemed to realize that because she let go of his arm and nodded at him. Remy wasted no more time. In a flash he was down the now familiar hall and making his way into Spencer's room. When he came in, Spencer's eyes were closed and Remy felt something clench tightly around his heart. Then those eyes suddenly opened, moving straight to him, and there was a flare of recognition followed by both joy and relief. It was enough to almost send Remy to his knees. He had no idea how he stumbled forward. He just found himself at Spencer's bedside, reaching out to the casted hand that lifted towards him. The ventilator prevented Spencer from speaking. However, his eyes were speaking volumes. They were locked on Remy and bright with tears._

_Remy lifted one shaky hand, slightly stroking over one of Spencer's damp cheeks. “Hey, cher.” He said shakily. His grin was so wide it threatened to split his face. “Bout time y’ opened dem gorgeous eyes of y’rs. Been waitin’ fo’ y’ here, and y’ know I aint de most patient of men.”_

_A few more tears slid out. The casted hand that Remy held gave a spasmodic sort of twitch at the same time that Remy felt a wave of distress from Spencer. Instantly Remy started to stroke at Spencer's cheek to try and soothe him down. “Shh, shh. Y’ gotta calm down, Spencer. I know it’s scary right now. I’m here, though. I’m right here wi’ y’ and I aint going nowhere.”_

_He kept up his soothing litany until Spencer's eyes drifted shut once more. This time, he was simply sleeping, not in the deep sleep of his coma. Remy could see the difference. He stayed there while Spencer slept and was still there later on when the doctor came in to start his tests. All through those tests, Remy stayed with Spencer, helping to keep him calm when he woke and started to panic. And when Spencer went to sleep again and the tests were done for the moment, Remy stood by the window and called the team to share the news. Spencer had come back to them!_

*End Flashback*

Of course, that was really only the beginning for them. Things weren’t miraculously solved just because Spencer woke up. As time went on, Remy realized just how much the media prettied things up when it came to brain injuries. In all the movies the person woke up with only a few remaining problems and those were easily solved with just a little therapy. Remy’s first clue at just how much bullshit that was came when they took Spencer's ventilator out the next day and the young man tried to speak for the first time. The slurred sounds that he made had resembled nothing more than gibberish. Where Remy had worried, Spencer had gone into a panic at not being able to communicate.

The initial exam showed them that, while Spencer was capable of understanding what was said to him, he couldn’t express it. They said that it would improve as he went through his speech therapy. He also displayed an increased sensitivity to sounds and Remy quickly learned to lower his voice and slow down his speech a little. Spencer seemed to have no problems understanding him with his accent and he got extremely agitated the one time that Remy had tried to speak without it. He hadn’t relaxed until Remy had spoken in his regular tone again.

More effects of the TBI became apparent as time went on. It affected his cognitive functions, like his attention span and his memory. Though he understood people fine, he seemed to have a hard time focusing on them for too long. He was too easily distracted and, in the early days, it wasn’t uncommon for him to drift off in the middle of someone talking to him. His memory had also been a big one. Retrograde amnesia, they called it. The loss of memories gained before the accident. Spencer had no memory of the event that had put him in the hospital and he seemed to be missing gaps here and there going back a few years. He remembered moments together with Remy, times spent together on dates or in bed, but he didn’t actually remember them getting together. He remembered his team, but he didn’t remember Elle leaving the team, and he had no memory of Ashely at all. There seemed to be no real pattern to what was remembered and what wasn’t. The damage didn’t appear to affect his ability to form new memories, though, for which they were eternally grateful. Still, for someone who had always relied on his memory, who was known for having an eidetic memory, losing even one single memory was a terrifying thing. It was something they would end up working hard to help Spencer cope with.

His motor functions were also affected. It impaired his coordination and left him weak in his limbs. Lifting them with any of the casts on was almost more than he could manage for a while. His sight was changed, too. They had to get Spencer a new prescription for his glasses. His vision was worse than it had been before the accident.

Remy had spoken with Spencer's doctor a few times already about transferring the man closer to home. Now that Spencer was awake and off his ventilator, that was the first thing they arranged. He needed to be assessed by a care team and his treatments started and they didn’t want to start that at this hospital only to shift him to a new one a few days later. So Remy got all the paperwork taken care of and Spencer was transferred to a hospital in New York that was connected to a long-care rehabilitation facility that Spencer could enter once the hospital released him. That also allowed Remy the ability to go home to his condo each night, not a hotel room, and it put him close enough that his friends would be able to visit once Spencer agreed to have visitors.

The strength the man showed in those early days never failed to amaze Remy. No matter what was thrown at him, Spencer somehow managed to maintain this amazing strength. Not to say that he wasn’t affected by it; things scared him. Some things terrified him. He was also frequently agitated or disoriented by the world around him. But he didn’t stop fighting. As soon as they settled in at the new hospital, Spencer was all for meeting his care team and starting his recovery process and Remy was with him for every step.

Mostly the hospital concentrated on taking care of the physical injuries and getting those healed. His physical injuries healed well for the most part. His hand was the main exception. It was the rest of it that really required the rehab. Not only did the young genius have to essentially learn how to talk again, he also had to learn how to do the most basic of things like walking, feeding himself, and even using the restroom. Two weeks after he woke up, Spencer left the main hospital and was moved into the residential rehabilitation center. That was when his rehab really started.

Remy became well versed in Spencer's care. He fed him at meal times and even became quickly competent at helping to clean him up from any accidents. They’d all discovered early on that Spencer was more relaxed and comfortable if Remy was helping with his care. While it still embarrassed him, Remy seemed to have a way of making it just a little easier for him. The Cajun had no problems doing any of these things. He was also good at calming Spencer down when he got too agitated. Remy went to physical therapy, too, when he was allowed. He learned the range-of-motion exercises that the therapist said he could do with Spencer in his visits. Every place they’d let him, Remy was there to help. The staff there was kind and friendly and they were open to Remy being there for quite a bit of it. He was only barred from a few things.

Spencer refused to have other visitors. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this. For months, Remy was the only one he allowed in to see him. The others were hurt, but they understood. Spencer had always been so very private. To have his friends see him when he couldn’t walk, couldn’t feed himself, could barely talk, and when he could barely control his bodily functions on his own—the idea of it was agonizing. Just suggesting it was enough to set Spencer off.

For every good day that Spencer had, it seemed there was always an equally bad day that came around. Days where it seemed like they lost progress instead of gained it. Days where the usually nice and quiet Dr. Reid would fade to the background and the angry, scared part of him would take over. Spencer hadn’t used to be the type of person to lash out when angry, or to let his emotions show around so many people. He also wasn’t one to get mad over the small things. But there was one morning where the nurse brought Spencer in cereal for breakfast that he was supposed to be practicing eating on his own. After the second spilled bite, Spencer had grown so frustrated that he threw both spoon and bowl against the wall.

Remy had learned that personality changes were just as common as the physical problems. Most of who Spencer had been was still the same but he had to learn how to control his temper, which came out easier than it used to, though it still came out only against himself. He didn’t physically lash out at other people. One of the biggest changes for Remy was the change in Spencer's inhibitions. He was nowhere near as shy about people seeing his body as he’d once been, though he was extremely self-conscious about people seeing the few scars on his face or his hand. He showed no resistance in reaching out to Remy for physical comfort. He touched more often, reaching out to touch Remy’s hand or his arm or his leg. Often the two would hold hands when they were together.

He also spoke more openly. Though he didn’t lash out at others, he wasn’t as shy about voicing his opinion once he gained more control over his speech. When doing therapy for his hand one afternoon, he had wanted to stop and the therapist had encouraged him to continue. To Remy’s surprise, Spencer had actually glared at the woman and snapped “If you want it done so bad, _you_ d-do it. My h-h-hand a-a-a…hurts.”

Despite everything that was thrown at him, Spencer fought hard, and he went further in his rehab than any of his doctors had expected. It was six months after his accident when Remy was finally able to bring the man home. While Spencer was in rehab, the two had talked and agreed that they wanted to find a home for them, together. Spencer didn’t want to go back to DC, knowing that he wouldn’t ever be able to do his job again. Not with the damage in his hand. Plus, though his left leg healed, there were days that it tended to ache more than others, and if he overused it then it wasn’t uncommon for him to limp.

After a lot of talk, the two agreed to stay in New York. Remy would be able to still work with the X-Men, though not as in depth as he had before, and they’d be close to Spencer's doctors while also being close to a city they both enjoyed. Spencer also mentioned potentially going back to school eventually. For what, he wasn’t sure. But he loved to learn.

So the two bought themselves a home in the city. Money to get the home wasn’t an issue. Remy had enough accounts, each one with plenty of money in it, that they could purchase any home they wanted. They found a perfect one close enough to the city, yet far enough away that it was actually a home and not a condo. They had a modest little backyard that was fully fenced in with privacy fencing and bushes. A two story, with a patio on top and a gorgeous view. It was perfect. Here, they made themselves a home. Here, they healed.

There were still days that things weren’t perfect. There were days where either one of them wanted nothing more than to vanish and just scream to the Heavens. But they didn’t. They stuck it out, together, and little by little the two of them healed, and they made their life here. Together. In the end, that was all that mattered. They were together.

Remy smiled as he watched Spencer finally patted Sasha on the head and rose back to his feet. He turned towards the house, the dog at his side, and it was easy to see the exact moment that he caught sight of his partner. A wide grin split his face and there was suddenly a small skip to his step as he hurried forward. Remy pushed the sliding glass door open and stepped out with just enough time to open his arms and accept his partner’s embrace. Spencer folded into him without hesitation and snuggled in close, his head going to its customary spot against Remy’s shoulder. “M-Morning, love.” Spencer murmured.

“Morning.” Remy pressed a kiss against the crown of Spencer's head and then laid his cheek there. They’d been through a lot of hell these past few years but they were still here, still together, and in the end, nothing else mattered. So long as they had one another, everything would be okay.


End file.
